At the source of Henry Buchanan's first appearances in this area was his relationship to Shawne Merriman, his nephew, more than any boxing expertise he possessed. The fighter known as “Sugar Poo” appeared limited.

Buchanan changed that with his recent effort at the Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills. The man can fight.

His super middleweight opponent, Brian “the Assassin” Norman, a Georgia veteran, had only a so-so record, but he was a heavily muscled, strong and willing individual. Buchanan, considerably more fit after following some conditioning practices detailed by Merriman, boxed him nicely, did some telling punching and stopped Norman in the ninth round with a right uppercut-straight right combination that left his opponent draped across a lower strand of the ropes.

“We strive for excellence,” Merriman, the Chargers linebacker, would announce.

Buchanan's intention is to trim further to the 160-pound middleweight limit. He said he would welcome opposing any of the ranking middleweights, mentioning Jeff Lacy, Jermaine Taylor and Cory Spinks. Off what he showed at the Playboy Mansion, Buchanan opposing one of those fighters would be an attractive prospect.

Not again

Just what boxing does not need: another blight. It has one. It relates to how the respected Joe Cortez ruled when he was working the Humberto Soto-Francisco Lorenzo bout on the Manny Pacquiao-David Diaz card in Las Vegas.

Lorenzo, a worn 36-year-old from the Dominican Republic, was being belabored by Soto and clearly was in distress, bobbing up and down in a corner.

One of Soto's shots bounced, harmlessly, it appeared, off Lorenzo's head. But Cortez ruled that Lorenzo had been struck with sufficient force while he was down to cause a concussion. Lorenzo became the winner by disqualification.

WBC President Jose Sulaiman has declared the bout a no-contest, but the Nevada State Athletic Commission has declined to reverse the decision, which was not announced until Cortez had spent considerable time polling officials at ringside.

Through this period, Lorenzo collapsed onto his back and remained there while the officials were conferring. No one was attending him. Had he been severely hurt, his condition could have worsened. Said Ron Ross, author of “Bummy Davis vs. Murder, Inc.” and other boxing works:

“I consider Cortez to be not only an excellent referee but a fine gentleman. Yes, everyone is entitled to an off-night. I fault the Nevada commission much more than Cortez. Yes, he had a bad night, but they made it a lot worse.”

'Big Sky' falls

Heavyweight Tye Fields, a former San Diego State basketball player, is known as “Big Sky,” a reference to his Montana origins. Fields had to have thought the sky was falling on him the other night when he was matched against the experienced Monte Barrett.

Barrett took Fields out in 57 seconds of the opening round. In the time he was in there, Fields landed only two punches. “Taps,” television analyst Jim Lampley termed them.

The lesson there was that mere size doesn't make a heavyweight. Fields is 6 feet 8 and weighs 275. He had been 41-1 with 37 KOs before he engaged Barrett, but he was woefully unprepared to box a rival of Barrett's skills.

Hits and misses

Heavyweight title fights once were quality events. Tell me, are you excited about Wladimir Klitschko's IBF/WBO and IBO defense against Tony Thompson on July 12 in Hamburg, Germany? I am not. . .

They had the wrong Diaz in against Pacquiao. David Diaz of Chicago fought valiantly against the buzz saw from the Philippines, but Julio Diaz of Coachella is a more accomplished lightweight than his namesake. Julio can box better and punch better than the Midwesterner. Julio was sharp in scoring a fifth-round knockout of David Torres at the Playboy Mansion. . .

Hasim Rahman is training in Phoenix for his July 16 match against James “Lights Out” Toney at the Pechanga Resort and Casino and has been pronounced “in excellent shape” by trainer Marshall Kauffman. The fight's appeal is that the winner must score impressively to remain a heavyweight factor. . .

Rita Rubalcaba of Tijuana, to box Danny Perez of San Diego on Bobby DePhilippis' July 24 program at 4th and B, is a one-time WBA FEDEBOL middleweight champion, whatever that means. Rubalcaba has been in with some good ones, including Sergio Mora, a star of the “Contender” television series. Mora stopped him in six. . . .

Pacquiao's name has come up as a possible foe for Oscar De La Hoya. More likely: for Pacquiao to go against WBA/IBF/WBO lightweight champion Nate Campbell.